I will be too old for the Army National Guard on August 18. I still have a little weight to lose so I am out of time. Someone mentioned The Air National Guard which has an older age limit. So, I brought up the fact that everyone enlisting in the AF or ANG has to get a security clearance and that is an issue with me bcz of my credit.
As far as shame on me for being in my thirties and having bad credit - when you get laid off and your pay is dramatically reduced on unemployment and you must decide between a roof over your head and food on the table or paying your cable bill well your credit suffers. It is easy to judge if you are one of the few lucky ones that hasn't been effected by this poor economy. I had great credit until getting laid off. And once you fall behind it is difficult to get caught up. It becomes impossible to get caught up and you just fall further and further behind.

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I will be too old for the Army National Guard on August 18. I still have a little weight to lose so I am out of time. Someone mentioned The Air National Guard which has an older age limit. So, I brought up the fact that everyone enlisting in the AF or ANG has to get a security clearance and that is an issue with me bcz of my credit.
As far as shame on me for being in my thirties and having bad credit - when you get laid off and your pay is dramatically reduced on unemployment and you must decide between a roof over your head and food on the table or paying your cable bill well your credit suffers. It is easy to judge if you are one of the few lucky ones that hasn't been effected by this poor economy. I had great credit until getting laid off. And once you fall behind it is difficult to get caught up.

So why not just enlist now in the Army Guard for a non clearance MOS....work on your credit...and go from there? Is there something Im missing?? I don't think there is anything you are going to do in 30 days that is going to make a difference. Whatever the clearance decision would be today....it would be 30 days or even 90 days from now....the time between the events is a key factor.

I was not judging you. I just think people need to get educated in their 20s to realize the importance of credit. That if people have an emergency fund established, you can survive on that with unemployment. Yes, it is not an easy thing to do.

I took a 35K pay cut when I came back on active duty and it was not easy. I had to do alot of reshuffling but with the education I learned in my early years that is what kept me afloat. And that is my point. You should have known the answers to your questions years ago. No fault to you but that is where we are failing as a nation to educate our young.

But at the same time that is why I shake my head at the government. I am expected to manage my finances and debt but yet they can't control the deficit and they spend uncontrollably.

7.5 years or 7. Nevertheless, again, I speak from experience from actually getting out of a hole and feeling empowered many years over my finances. I do share your pain because I been there.

So why not just enlist now in the Army Guard for a non clearance MOS....work on your credit...and go from there? Is there something Im missing?? I don't think there is anything you are going to do in 30 days that is going to make a difference. Whatever the clearance decision would be today....it would be 30 days or even 90 days from now....the time between the events is a key factor.

I was told by the Army National Guard recruiter that I have to ship by my 35 th birthday. Even if it was that I had to just enlist Before my 35th birthday I wouldn't have time because I am still above my weight. So, the option is The Air National Guard which gives me plenty of time - 40 years old is their max. What the Air National Guard recruiter told me is if I have payment arrangements for all bad debt on my report set up I will be fine. He also said that debt consolidation is fine too as long as I can show that I am making an effort to make good on my bad debt.

Fmcityslicker...sorry I got defensive I just hate the fact that I have bad credit and I have come across people that are quick to assume that if I have bad credit it is because I don't want to pay my bills or take responsibility for me debt. I know some people are like that but that is not me. I hate having past due bills and I do wish I had been better educated so I would have known what to do when life went in a direction I was not planning on. if I knew then what I know now.........

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I was told by the Army National Guard recruiter that I have to ship by my 35 th birthday. Even if it was that I had to just enlist Before my 35th birthday I wouldn't have time because I am still above my weight. So, the option is The Air National Guard which gives me plenty of time - 40 years old is their max. What the Air National Guard recruiter told me is if I have payment arrangements for all bad debt on my report set up I will be fine. He also said that debt consolidation is fine too as long as I can show that I am making an effort to make good on my bad debt.

I want you to ask this recruiter if He/she has personally witnessed someone make payment arrangements within 1-3 months out of nowhere get adjudicated for a clearance. I personally don't believe it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Ask them that question...

I want you to ask this recruiter if He/she has personally witnessed someone make payment arrangements within 1-3 months out of nowhere get adjudicated for a clearance. I personally don't believe it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Ask them that question...

Good point. Also, I thought PS enlistments for ANG was 29 years old? That is what they told me eons ago when I asked.

Also, in the 90s, when I was going for a job that required a clearance and there was issues with my credit report; the investigator called me on the phone and I had to explain what was the status with those accounts and if they were getting resolved. After that call; I got a job offer via federal express a couple of years later lol.

I am not prior service in the eyes of the ANG bcz I don't have the minimum days served. But, prior service age limit is you have to have enough time to put in your 20 years by age 60.
I spoke with two recruiters and they both said it doesn't matter how long you have been working with your creditors as long as you are working on making things right. Obviously, the longer the amount of time you have been paying is better but they put other things into consideration too. I was concerned about it needing some time to look better. I spoke to one recruiter that told me he has had a lot of people recently swear in and then get a red flag during their security clearance because of bad debt. What those individuals have been told to do is call the creditor, set up payment arrangements, get a letter from them stating you have payment arrangements set up, then submit that papwerwork and they have gotten the ok on the credit part of the security clearance. He also said that if the person had a lot of different creditors, that they were adviced to go through a debt consolidation company if setting up individual payment plans would be too much. So, I am going by what he said. My actual recruiter is talking to the person in charge of the background/clearance stuff today to explain my exact situation and the best course of action for me to take.he wants to make sure I am armed with the best course of action to take before I go to MEPS.